Joe Okonkwo's Blog: The Joe Blog: Books, Writing, Literature, Art, page 2

Art Book Review

Check out my Publishers Weekly review of Kay WalkingStick: An American Artist:
http://bit.ly/1Mdnz1q

Book Review: Nella Larsen's Passing

Check out my review of Passing, a Harlem Renaissance novel by Nella Larsen, on my Tumblr blog.

The novel, published in 1929, concerns blacks who are light enough to pass for white and the dangers and complications involved.

A Short Story's Progress: Picnic Street

I've been working on a short story called Picnic Street. I finished a first draft about two years ago and recently went back to it. It's loosely based on an incident from my childhood when my mother and I had moved to her hometown in Mississippi.

The first draft flowed out of me pretty quickly and easily. My challenge now is to "fill in the gaps" and flesh it out to make it work on a substantive emotional level.

I just emailed it to my writing group. We meet once a month to critique each other's work. I'm looking forward to finding out how to make Picnic Street better.

Three Great Books About the Harlem Renaissance

Check my review of three terrific books about the Harlem Renaissance on my Tumblr blog:

bit.ly/1jNwMCP

It discusses:

1. When Harlem Was in Vogue by David Levering Lewis

2. The Harlem Renaissance: Hub of African-American Culture, 1920-1930 by Steven Watson

3. The Portable Harlem Renaissance Reader edited by David Levering Lewis

Enjoy.

Mary Shelley Biography

Just finished Mary Shelley, a biography by Miranda Seymour. What stands out for me is the colorful, accomplished, scandalous, ambitious life scarred by debt and tragedy. This vibrant biography brings alive the many facets of Mary Shelley, from the brilliant and visionary writer who created Frankenstein to the impetuous, fearless girl who ran off with another woman's husband at the age of seventeen to the melancholy widow determined to protect and promote her late husband's literary reputation. At times the multitude of people who populate the book overwhelmed me and it was hard to keep track of who was who. But Mary Shelley is deeply-researched and presents an engrossing portrait of the writer of one of literature's most famous novels.